As Waldron and the Count entered the fine Quirinale Palace they were challenged by the sentries at the great gateway, whereupon the aide-de-camp gave the pa.s.sword and they saluted.

Then, crossing the great handsome courtyard, they entered by one of the smaller doors, and pa.s.sing round the gallery to the huge gilded staircase where two servants in the royal livery stood on either side like statues. They ascended, and pa.s.sing along a well-carpeted corridor, halted at last before a heavy mahogany door outside which stood a sentry on duty--the door of the King's private cabinet.

Again the Count uttered the pa.s.sword, was saluted, and was then allowed to knock.

A deep voice gave permission to enter, whereupon Hubert Waldron crossed the threshold and bowed low in the presence of a rather short, middle-aged man of smart military appearance, though he wore civilian evening dress with a single decoration on the breast of his coat, the Star of the Order of the Crown of Italy, of which he was Master.

The room was not large, but was tastefully, even luxuriantly furnished.

In the centre stood a great mahogany writing-table piled with papers, from which he had just risen, while at the side was set an armchair for those to whom His Majesty gave audience.

"Ah, Waldron, I am very glad they have found you so quickly," he exclaimed, putting out his hand in gracious welcome. "I want to have a confidential chat with you. I want you to a.s.sist me, for I feel sure you can."

"If I can serve Your Majesty in any way," replied the British diplomat, "I am, as you know, only too anxious and too willing."

"Ah! I know. I know that," replied King Umberto briskly. "Good! Sit down."

Then, when His Majesty had settled himself again in his padded writing-chair--at that table where for many weary hours each day he attended to matters of State affecting forty millions of his subjects-- he looked straight at the man before him, and asked suddenly in Italian:

"Signor Waldron, can you keep a Secret?"

"That is my profession," was the other's calm reply. "And any secret of Your Majesty's will, I a.s.sure you, be safe in my keeping."

The King paused. He was dressed plainly, for after the banquet given that night to a Russian royalty he had changed from his striking uniform into easier clothes before commencing work. Yet in his face was a deep, earnest, n.o.ble expression, for he was a monarch who had the welfare of his nation very deeply and genuinely at heart. His dark, deep-set eyes, his slightly sallow skin, and the three lines across his brow told their own tale. Though a King, the crown bore heavily upon his head, for the responsibilities of a State run by a Ministry which was not above suspicion weighed very heavily upon him.

The Cabinet was, alas, composed mainly of men with axes to grind. Of financial scandals there had been many, and more than once there had been a public outcry when Ministers had been tried as criminals and convicted of bribery, and of peculation of the public funds.

Yet as monarch his hands were tied, and perhaps no ruler in all Europe had so many sleepless nights as he.

The silence was broken by a bugle in the great courtyard below. The Palace guard were changing.

"Listen, Waldron," he said at last in a low voice of deep earnestness after he had ascertained that the door was closed, "I have asked you here to-night because I feel that I can trust you. My father trusted your father, and I have known you ever since we were lads. I know how shrewd and painstaking you are, and what a high sense of honour you possess."

"Your Majesty is far too flattering," Hubert replied modestly. "I know that my dead father always held yours in the highest esteem. And you have shown towards myself a graciousness that I never expected."

"Because I know that you are my friend," he said. "Even a King must have a friend in whom he can at times confide. That is why I have asked you to come and see me."

"You do me too great an honour," declared the diplomat.

"Not at all. It is I who am asking your favour in your a.s.sistance," was His Majesty's quiet response. "Let me explain the situation of which you, as a British diplomat, will at once recognise the extreme gravity."

And then drawing his white hand wearily across his brow, he leaned back in his chair and sighed. In that gay, brilliant Court--one of the gayest in all Europe--His Majesty always presented a brilliant and kingly figure in his splendid uniforms and dazzling decorations, but at heart he hated all pomp and show, and as soon as a ceremony was over he always changed into evening-clothes, or else into a navy serge suit which, being an old friend, was slightly shiny at the elbows.

A high-minded, G.o.d-fearing ruler, he carried out to the letter all the traditions of the House of Savoy and worked incessantly and untiringly for the welfare of his nation, and for the benefit of the sweated factory-hand, and the poor, half-starved _contadino_. For certain Hebrew financiers who had tried to grip the country and strangle it, he had nothing but hatred. For the present Cabinet, mostly composed of commercial adventurers and place-seeking lawyers, he had the most supreme contempt, and daily he sighed that he was not an autocrat, so that he could sweep away with a single stroke of the pen all those who stood in the way of his beloved Italy's prosperity.

True, by dint of his own business ac.u.men and his resolute firmness against the various Ministers of Finance who were too often rogues, many of whom ought long ago to have been in prison, he had himself placed the finances of Italy upon a sound basis. The lire was now almost equal in value to the French franc. By this, commercial industries had been encouraged, foreign capital had been invested in Italy, the railways had been taken over by the State, and a wave of prosperity had swept upon the nation such as had never hitherto been experienced.

But this had not suited the Cabinet, every man of whom could be bought at a price. Hence he stood alone as ruler, compelled daily to combat the intrigues of that unscrupulous horde of adventurers which composed the Chamber of Deputies, and to continue the policy he had marked out as his own.

As a diplomat Hubert Waldron knew all this and deeply sympathised with him. Truly, the Palace of the Quirinale was not a bed of roses for its Sovereign.

Again the bugle sounded, and from below came the regular tramp of armed men.

The little buhl clock upon the mantelshelf chimed the hour upon its silver bell, the big fire burned cosily, and over the great writing-table the two green silk-shaded electric lamps threw their mellow glow.

"Waldron, my nation is to-day in gravest peril," the King said at last, looking straight into the other's eyes very gravely. "A secret--one which I foolishly believed to be safe from our enemies--has been betrayed! You are shrewd, cautious, and far-seeing. I will reveal the whole ghastly truth to you--for you must help me. I rely upon you, for though I am King of Italy you are, I know, my friend, and will help me through the most critical crisis that has occurred since my accession to the throne. Listen," he urged, "and I will relate the whole of the remarkable circ.u.mstances."

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

HIS MAJESTY'S SECRET.

"The problem we have before us is as follows," His Majesty began, bending towards Waldron from his chair, and speaking in a low, earnest, intense tone. "Some plans of important defences now being constructed upon our Austrian frontier have mysteriously disappeared from the Ministry of War. The theft was discovered at once, but up to the present it is known only to myself, to Ghelardi, our Chief of Secret Police; to General Cataldi, Minister of War, who reported to me this evening, and to three other persons, all of whom have been sworn to absolute secrecy."

"In what circ.u.mstances have they disappeared?" inquired the diplomat.

"I will tell you," was the King's reply. "A year ago it was decided in secret by the Council of Defence to construct a chain of hidden fortresses from Feltre along the northern frontier to the Lago di Garda--eight of them, with quick-firing disappearing guns. Six have been constructed, commanding a wide sweep of our neighbour's territory, and armed with our new long-range artillery, while two others are still in course of construction, the work being carried out in strictest secrecy. For many years the Council of Defence have felt that this portion of our frontier was the most vulnerable of all, but according to our unfortunate treaty with Austria, no strengthening of the defences on either side is permitted."

"And now the secret is probably out to Austria," Waldron remarked. "Ah!

I follow Your Majesty. The construction of these forts will be construed by Austria into a menace--even into an act of war!"

"Precisely. I see that you at once perceive the extreme gravity of the situation. Italy has been betrayed into the hands of her hereditary enemy, Austria. Ever since the recent riots in Trieste our relations have been greatly strained, and I am informed on the best authority that Austria-Hungary is only waiting an excuse to pick a quarrel and attack us, although her att.i.tude is so diplomatically correct."

"Then the situation is certainly most grave. There is, I fear, a distinct and imminent peril, Your Majesty."

"Ah! You agree with me--eh?"

"Entirely," was Waldron's answer as he sat, his chin resting upon his hand, deep in thought. "But may I not know more precisely the exact circ.u.mstances of this theft?"

"Certainly, every fact within my knowledge is entirely at your disposal, for I am seeking your a.s.sistance, I have heard of your successes as a keen investigator of diplomatic secrets, and I appeal to you, Waldron, to a.s.sist me in what is a very serious difficulty and a distinct peril to my nation."

"I am Your Majesty's obedient servant to command," was the other's prompt reply.

"Yes, yes, I greatly appreciate your words," the monarch said. "Now let me proceed further. The plans were produced at a meeting of the Council of Defence held at the Ministry of War yesterday at twelve o'clock.

There had been suggested some strengthening of the fort overlooking the Lago di Garda at Gardone, also the one commanding the Austrian town of Riva, at the farther end of the lake. It was to discuss the details-- the addition of guns of greater calibre and further range--that the plans were laid upon the table and examined by the Ministers of War and of Marine as well as the eight other high officers composing the Council. The proceedings were entirely private, of course, even the secretary of the Council being excluded from the council chamber, as he always is when purely confidential business affecting the nation's secret defences is in progress. On his re-entry the plans in question were handed back to him by the hand of General Cataldi, the Minister of War, but a few minutes later they seem to have been mysteriously spirited away, the secretary of the Council, Lambarini, declaring that he had pa.s.sed them on to Pironti, private secretary of the Minister."

"And Lambarini?" queried Waldron. "Is he trustworthy--entirely trustworthy?"

"Entirely. Colonel Lambarini has occupied his position for the past fifteen years, and is thoroughly loyal and patriotic."

Hubert Waldron drew a deep, long breath. His estimate of the Italian functionary, of whatever grade, was but a low one. He had never yet known any Government official in Italy--be he a humble clerk or a Cabinet Minister--who could not be bought with a price. Alas! that corruption in Italy was a matter of world-wide knowledge.

The King instantly noticed his visitor's hesitation, and his brows contracted.

"Ah, I see! You suspect Lambarini. But there you are quite wrong, Waldron--quite wrong, I a.s.sure you! Too well I know the lack of personal honour at Monte Citorio and in our Government offices. But I know Lambarini. For me that is all-sufficient. When I know a man I trust him."

"Then I at once withdraw my suspicion," the diplomat exclaimed quickly.

"Your Majesty can read men far better than I can. If you actually know this secretary, Lambarini, then no further word need be said."

"It is not my desire to prejudice your views in any way, my dear Waldron," the King a.s.sured him with a smile. "I want you to approach this affair with a perfectly open mind. Please understand that to you I am looking for a.s.sistance. I am powerless as monarch. I am hoping that you--the friend of my youth--may be able to solve the very serious and critical problem."